Stages of Contract Lifecycle Management Series: #9 – Contract Renewal

This is the concluding blog in our stages of contract lifecycle. We have discussed each stage that occurs in a given contract’s lifecycle, and we will cover the final stage below. For more information on the first eight stages that occur within the lifecycle of a contract, view the following links below:

Stage #1: Contract Request

Stage #2: Contract Authoring

Stage #3: Contract Approval

Stage #4: Contract Execution

Stage #5: Contract Storage

Stage #6: Records Management

Stage #7: Search and Retrieval

Stage #8: Reporting and Data Analysis

Content-

• Stage #9: The Contract Renewal Stage
• Renew Your Contracts With Contract Management Software
• How To Manage Contract Renewals
• What Is the End Goal of a Contract Renewal?
• Why Contract Renewals are Important
• The Role of Automation in Contract Renewals
• Improve Contract Renewals Today with Dock 365
• Conclusion

Stage #9: The Contract Renewal Stage

The last stage in contract lifecycle management is the contract renewal stage. When a contract approaches the end of its active term, you must keep the renewal date in mind so that you renew the contract and keep the agreement active. In the case that a contract is not renewed in a timely manner, you increase the chance of incurring financial risks for all contractual parties.

Renew Your Contracts With Contract Management Software

Digital contracts must be renewed so that businesses can ensure that obligations with clients, vendors, and other parties are protected by law. With dedicated contract management software, you can improve your contract renewals stage. On your contract management software system, you can use automated alerts so that everyone involved can receive notifications regarding upcoming contract renewals. In this way, you can have a proactive contract management approach so that contract managers can ensure digital contracts are approved prior to renewal dates.

Your clients can also receive automated notifications prior to renewals so they can approve and review contracts and related documents. With various self-service features, you can work on contract renewals digitally and efficiently. By implementing contract management software, you can gain opportunities to increase your ROI rather than miss opportunities.

With a digital contract management solution, you reduce risk by having key dates top of mind. The customizable alerts will keep due dates and key tasks at the forefront so that everyone involved is aware of what actions take priority. Consequentially, failing to renew contracts on time can exponentially increase financial risks.

How To Manage Contract Renewals

The contract renewal process is key, so it’s necessary that you include necessary parties throughout this process so that billing and obligations are both clearly communicated and understood. To ensure a smooth contract renewal, we suggest reviewing if certain standardized clauses and terms need to be included in the renewal. We additionally suggest tagging contractual terms and giving your counter party appropriate approvals so they stay in the loop.

What Is the End Goal of a Contract Renewal?

A contract renewal ensures that appropriate changes and adjustments are made for every client’s and vendor’s contract. Contract renewals should be tailored to new needs and issues that had occurred within the previous contract. You might need to update agreement terms, which will be reflected in the new contract. The decision to renew a digital contract depends on the performance of the contract during its lifecycle. Were obligations effectively fulfilled by all parties? Does the contract benefit your organization? Will renewing the contract lead to increased opportunities?

If your company has a poor digital contract renewal strategy, then you may damage business relationships or lose clients entirely. Don’t give your competitor the edge by not capitalizing on this critical, final stage of contract lifecycle management.

To remain in a business relationship with a specific client or vendor, undergoing a well-thought-out contract renewal is key. You won’t have to go through several stages of the contract lifecycle to have to design a new legal agreement, however, you can renegotiate digital contract terms and review financial details seamlessly with your well-equipped contract management solution.

Why Contract Renewals are Important

The majority of digital contracts will include provisions for contract renewals. Its important that your contract management team confirms that the services and products that are currently noted in the contract are necessary. In addition, we suggest reviewing key objectives and pricing during the contract renewal stage. As businesses, products, services, and needs change, so do contracts.

Contract renewals serve as a way to adjust your contracts as your specific needs or your business changes as well. This way, contract stakeholders can feel support in the adjusted standards created in the new and improved contract. You can boost performance, reduce costs, and even utilize discounts during this stage of contract lifecycle management.

Your contract renewal stage should examine the potential benefits and drawbacks of going forth with a specific renewal. With a business-driven contract renewal, you can increase legal risk management, build upon business partnerships, and confirm that contractual obligations are fulfilled.

The Role of Automation in Contract Renewals

By automating your contracts, you can create an optimized and systematized approach to the contract renewal stage of contract lifecycle management. This will greatly improve the quality of your digital contracts, ensuring you renew the right contracts at the right time. Once a digital contract reaches the contract renewal stage, technically the contract is nearing its official expiration – meaning that counterparties will now renew or negotiate their contract.

As contracts are configured for autorenewal, it’s essential that all involved parties review contracts far in advance of an automated contract renewal. Automated contract renewals are time-efficient and can help streamline your contract management processes overall. With your advanced features and business-minded tools in your contract management system, you can get the most value out of your contracts during contract renewals.

One of the benefits of automated contract renewals is how you reduce the workload on your company’s legal department, as they no longer have to review various documents, giving them more time to work towards providing risk mitigative strategies and legal counsel. Furthermore, contract automation is helpful to conducting contract renewals rapidly, so your company can save time and reduce risk by only renewing the most favorable contracts with appropriately negotiated terms.

Improve Contract Renewals Today with Dock 365

Here at Dock, your Contract Management System will provide a powerful and productive approach to all aspects of managing your contracts. Increase contract renewal opportunities with Dock, where you can leverage several revolutionary tools to help pinpoint which contract renewal opportunities are most valuable. In addition, our software solution will keep everyone in the loop, where contract stakeholders will be alerted in a timely manner to review contracts and associated documents. Building new contracts according to preexisting contracts is simple with your Dock Contract Management System, as it is highly customizable, user-friendly, and Office 365 and SharePoint-based. Streamline your contract renewals with:

• Automated notifications and alerts of contract renewal dates, obligations, key milestones, and other critical due dates
• A SharePoint-based, cloud-secure, centralized repository to store all of your company’s contracts
• Audit trail features that monitor the status of contract renewals and versions of every contract through each stage of its lifecycle
• Automated contract workflows to put your contracts on autopilot, allowing for tasks, negotiations, approvals, and signing to be both efficient and accountable
• An intelligent dashboard proving you on demand contract insights in real-time
• Integrations with various eSignature solutions such as DocuSign, Adobe Sign, and Sertifi – out-of-the-box

Conclusion

Overhaul your contract renewal processes by implementing automation and various contract management software features so that you can get more value out of your contracts. By improving contract renewal times, you can gain the competitive advantage by boosting your organization’s profitability, accuracy in various financial items and invoicing, increase visibility, and reduce risks and costs. Gain the upper hand on contract renewals by staying on top of key dates at all times. You can begin to master contract renewals with a Dock 365 supported approach. Dock works to streamline and simplify your contract management process for every individual and team involved so that work can be completed as productively and efficiently as possible.

Ready to get started today?

Reach out to us to learn more about our  Dock 365 Contract Management System.

If you would like more information, we welcome you to schedule a free demo with us today.